S.Atlantic : Sartma Daily (02/11/05)
Submitted by SARTMA.com (Juanita Brock) 03.11.2005 (Article Archived on 17.11.2005)
A brief run-down of South Atlantic news
SARTMA DAILY (02/11/05)
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
CONTENTS
Section 1: Committee News
Sympathy Letter from FIG
Section 2: Relevant Internet News
Section 3: Candidates’ Manifestos (Cockwell and Ormond)
Section 4: Announcements
Section 1:
COMMITTEE NEWS:
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
MEETINGS ON THURSDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2005
A meeting of the Planning and Building Committee will take place at 0900 on Thursday, 03 November 2005 in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat. Five deferred matters will be discussed as well as fifteen new applications. A full report of the public session will be forthcoming.
A meeting of the Stanley Lands Committee will take place at 1330 on Thursday, 03 November 2005 in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat. On the agenda will be the lease of the Government Boat House, lease of land at Gordon Lines, the Grazing Review, Cable & Wireless application to lease land at the rear of the Town Hall and the Murrell River Draft Management Plan. Applications for building plots, ExCo decisions on land sales, motorbikes on Stanley Common and other items will be discussed. A report will be written in due course.
Due to the election, these will be the last Committee Meetings of this Council.
HOUSING COMMITTEE
A meeting of the Housing Committee took place in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat at 1330 hrs on Wednesday, 02 November 2005. Present were Cllrs Luxton and Edwards, R. standing in for Cllr Edwards, N., Dawn Hoy, the Housing Officer, Kathy Dobbyns, Roma Plato, and Lynn Brownlee, who took minutes.
After the minutes of the meeting held on 05 October 2005 were confirmed, matters arising from them were discussed.
Corrections and amendments had been made to the new housing form but the project, according to Dawn Hoy, is in the hands of the Legal Department and would not be discussed until the next meeting.
Cllr Luxton raised an issue that another Councillor had discussed with him about a letter sent out by the Housing Officer on the 18th of October in which tenants were advised that the Housing Committee was in the process of devising a system to monitor tenants continued need for FIG accommodation. Thirty eight of these letters had been sent out and some of the community’s older people feared that they would be forced into moving. According to Dawn Hoy the letters were sent out so that everyone on the Government Housing register would sign an agreement at the same time. This was in conjunction with filling out the new form and brief interview that would take place when the new agreement was signed. A letter explaining what would happen would be sent out six months before the tenancy agreement expires so that if there are any problems they can be brought before the Housing Committee. Hopefully, this way everybody would be treated fairly.
Cllr Edwards said that many elderly people were concerned as they are on limited incomes and would never be in a place where they could afford a mortgage. He said the letter did come as a bit of a shock.
Dawn Hoy said that of the letters sent out there were only ten to come back in. Then everyone would have a valid agreement.
Cllr Luxton asked about the interviews and Ms. Hoy said that the new form must be in place before any interviews would take place. The interview would be informal.
The next meeting would be the first Wednesday in January but that was too close to Christmas so it was suggested that it be postponed until a week later. At this point it was not known who would be charing the meeting as it was Stephen Luxton’s last Committee meeting. “We will have to wait until the Councillors’ portfolios got sorted out,” he said.
The press and public then were excluded from the rest of the meeting.
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Commodore Ian Moncrieff BA RN
CBFSAI
HQ BFFI
Mount Pleasant Complex
Falkland Islands
1st November 2005
Dear Commander
I write on behalf of the Government and the People of the Falkland Islands to express our sadness and deepest sympathy on the recent sad loss of a crewmember of HMS Dumbarton Castle.
Please pass on our thoughts to the family and the Captain and crew of HMS Dumbarton Castle.
We would also like to extend our best wishes to the injured and hope for a speedy recovery of all those involved in the terrible accident.
Yours sincerely
COUNCILLOR JAN CHEEK
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE
FALKLAND ISLANDS
Section 2:
RELEVANT INTERNET NEWS
icWales - Kayak team in race to clinch record
An award winning ex-SAS soldier’s kayak expedition is bidding to become the first British team to circumnavigate South Georgia in the South Atlantic.Pete Bray, 48, and three other solo paddlers will try to round the 5,600 square kilometre island, regarded as the “Mount Everest of sea Kayaking.”
He said today that a New Zealand kayaking team brought their expedition forward by three months when they heard of the British team’s plans for the first circumnavigation. “They have been going four weeks and it looks like they are going to do it,” Bray, who flies out on Thursday, said. “But they have not crossed the finishing line yet, and ‘Mother Nature’ could still still sting them.”
His Templar Films South Georgia expedition plans to set out on their 420-mile voyage on November 12 – or sooner, weather permitting. With Bray on the £100,000 trip will be Nigel Dennis, 50, who runs the Anglesey Sea and Surf Centre in North Wales; Jeff Allen, a 43-year old kayak instructor and guide from Maenporth Beach in Cornwall; and female team member Hadas Feldman, 34, a former Israeli soldier. They will face sub zero temperatures, huge seas, 100mph Antarctic winds, the risk of icebergs, and attack from fur seals if they land on the permanently snow and ice covered island.
“If we do get to land on a beach we are going to have to deal with fur seals, which can attack you,” said Plymouth-born Bray, who lives in Pembrokeshire.
“And there is around 100 miles along the south east coast where there is nowhere to land,” he added.
Weather permitting the team could complete the voyage in 10 days – but they will be carrying freeze dried meals for two weeks, he said. South Georgia lies 800 miles east of the Falkland Islands and 1,000 miles from the edge of Antarctica. The expedition is also aiming to highlight the work of two different charities, Children in Crisis and Ty Hafan, a children’s hospice near Cardiff.
The South Georgia odyssey is the latest in a string of adventures for Bray. In 2000 he set out on a solo unsupported kayak trip from Newfoundland to UK - but his tiny craft sank, and he was rescued after spending 33 hours in the freezing Atlantic before rescue.
He made a second, successful attempt in 2002 – and became the first person to paddle solo and unsupported across the Atlantic. Earlier this year Bray was awarded a bravery medal by the Royal Humane Society for the successful rescue of fellow oarsman in a storm hit transatlantic rowing expedition. He was a member of the four-man crew of the Pink Lady rowing boat crew – which last year split in two last summer during a storm 300 miles from their Falmouth, Cornwall, destination.
It was on August 8 that the high-tech craft was smashed by a Force 11 storm - the tail end of Hurricane Alex – following a 1,800-mile, 39-day row from Newfoundland, Canada. With Bray on board were former Royal Marine Mark Stubbs, 41, from Poole, Dorset; writer Jonathan Gornall, 49 from London, and navigation expert John Wills, 34, from Elstead, Surrey.
They were hoping to break the 55-day trans-Atlantic rowing record set more than 100 years ago by two Norwegian fishermen when the storm struck. Mr Gornall said at the time that Bray supported him in the water, adding: “I have no doubt Pete saved my life.”
Copyright © owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2005
BBC NEWS: Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 November 2005
Oarsman's solo Antarctica quest
Mr Yeats has been planning the trip for four years. A 47-year-old oarsman plans to spend 10 months circumnavigating Antarctica solo in a rowing boat. Ex-Merchant Navy seaman Colin Yeats, of Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, hopes to become the first person to complete the 11,300-mile trip in extreme weather. Mr Yeats also plans to gather global warming data while battling hazardous huge "waves, gales, ice and fog". He sets off in mid-December in his 22-foot rowing boat named after its Dorset designer Charlie Rossiter. Mr Yeats, who has been planning the Antarctic Circumpolar Expedition for four years, said: "It is a massive, massive thing to do. It will be the most difficult and hazardous circumnavigation of the globe
"It will be the most difficult and hazardous circumnavigation of the globe.
"This is very significant because there is an insufficiency of data from the Southern Ocean."
Mr Yeats, who served in the Merchant Navy on the QE2 liner turned troop-carrier during the Falklands War, will cram his twin-cabin vessel craft with freeze-dried food to provide himself with the 6,000 calories per day he will need to sustain himself. He acknowledges that with the sea and air temperature rarely rising above five degrees centigrade the conditions for rowing there will be dangerous. Mr Yeats, now looking for a major sponsor, will also have to row around the notorious Cape Horn in the closing stages of the voyage.
Section 3:
CANDIDATES’ MANIFESTOS
THE MANIFESTO OF RICHARD COCKWELL
It has become the practice in recent elections for Candidates to present electors with a written manifesto. It would be tempting to write pages of discussion about the problems that we experience in the Falklands and how I would like to see these problems solved and further pages of self congratulation! However I believe that I should only burden the electors with a short resume of my views and mission for the future
I have decided to put myself up for re-election for Council as I believe that I still have the same skills and principles to offer that I detailed in 2001. I also have the time to give full attention to the job as Councillor. I hope that after eight years as a Councillor people will know me well enough to recognise that they may approach me for an honest and fair hearing of their problems and understand that I will always try to do what ever is in their best interests and those of the Falkland Islands.
Before the last election I stated that my mission was to ensure that the People of the Falkland Islands retain their democratic right to determine the future of their Islands without outside interference. This position is still not and never will be negotiable. I said then and repeat now that –if elected- I am prepared to proclaim this in any forum in any place in the world. We have to robustly resist any attempt by Argentina to influence our economy, our sovereign rights, and our access to our Islands. I believe that any person elected to represent our Islands must have this as an over-riding principle.
It is the right of every Falkland Islander to live in a peaceful environment with freedom from physical, economic and vocational harassment. I would like to include the protection from undue noise under this right.
Today it is even more essential to control expenditure at a level which will maintain a steady increase in our consolidated fund. This increase may be affected by the occasional poor income year as has been the case in the last few years, however the overall trend should be an increase. I am proud to have been part of a Council which has had to face up to large decreases in income while maintaining essential services as far as possible particularly within the medical and education sectors.
In the last Council discussions took place over the structure of Councillors responsibilities and the Constitution. These discussions must be concluded. I support the concept of Councillors being seen to take more responsibility for their respective portfolios and we must be sure that the public are aware of and understand these responsibilities.
I would like to see a clear definition of our right to internal self government. If we are to have the right to determine our future we must be seen to be internally self governing.
Every Islander should expect a sound all round education and a medical service at least comparable to that which we enjoy today. We should continue to look after the needs of our more vulnerable members of society; particularly the young and elderly. The income level of the elderly needs to be carefully monitored particularly in view of the huge increases in fuel bills.
As a Stanley Councillor I would like to see:
The establishment of a new housing development after making sure that all possible existing development sites have been utilised. The need for new housing will not recede within the foreseeable future. The support for first time buyers must be retained if we are to see young people able to own their own homes. -An aim that I fully support-
The continuation of the development of sensible, logical and uncomplicated town planning whilst retaining our historical heritage.
The further development of the tourist industry should be supported including the use of the Stanley Dockyard as a heritage centre. Without criticism of the PWD, I believe that the present use of the Dockyard is not in keeping with the Stanley that we would want tourists and visitors to see and that we ourselves would like to enjoy.
I would still like to see an appropriate community centre developed, the scale of which should be commensurate with our needs and available finances. However rather than this being a government driven project I would like to see it instigated and led by the community with financial assistance and support from Government. I would do my utmost to support an initiative proposing such a project.
More generally:
I would like to see Councillors continue to be involved in international gatherings such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the United Nations and that they take every opportunity to express our right to self determination worldwide. There is still a lot of misunderstanding in the world regarding our situation.
We must work for the continued support from MPs from Britain and the maintenance of the good relations with Westminster that have been built up over the years. This support can and will wear away without constant work.
Councillors should maintain close relations with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to ensure that decisions made on our behalf are in the best interests of Islanders and make sure that Councillors are involved in any discussions which might effect the future of our Islands.
I would like to see a good standard of living for all, good employment opportunities and a vocational training system which supports these opportunities. I fully support the further education system that we have in place and would wish it to continue, but I also believe that we may not be grasping all the opportunities for suitable students to become skilled tradesmen. A tradesman is worthy of just as much respect as a white collar worker in fact if we put too much stress on academic training alone we could find ourselves with an even greater skills shortage than we have now.
The Taxation system has been revised but I would like to see a review undertaken to ensure that there are no anomalies in the system which treat taxpayers unfairly or for that matter allow loopholes to be exploited.
I would like to see the continued improvement of internal and external communications. The Camp road building programme should be completed soon and we will now have to decide how we can make the best use of this network both for commercial and leisure activities.
Fisheries are and will remain a very important sector in our economy. We must support the development of new initiatives whilst maintaining the sustainability of this valuable resource and our protecting wildlife. The revised Fisheries ordinance has given the fishing industry new opportunities to advance, it is now up to them to develop these opportunities. The benefit to the Falklands will follow in increased income from taxation. –Taxation from fisheries activities is already a significant element of our income-
Internationally we must continue to press for the establishment a high seas regime which will control the unrestricted fishing of the seas to the north of the Islands. As well as being detrimental to our industry, this fishing has the potential to destroy an important world fish resource, which properly managed would continue to help feed the world in the future as well as support our industry.
Agriculture and Camp in general have for a long time been an important sector and will continue get my full support.
We are hearing and seeing more about oil exploration. Although we should not in any way raise our expectations, it is necessary to ensure that suitable legislation is in place to handle any further developments. We cannot find ourselves unprepared in the event of oil being found within our waters.
We must not omit to support the many small businesses that have been set up. These enterprises should be protected, and encouraged to expand where possible. Many of these businesses supply goods and services which have improved life in our Islands immeasurably.
I am also a great supporter of our voluntary services most particularly The FIDF and The Fire Brigade. These organisations are maintained mainly by volunteers who willingly give up their free time to ensure our Islands security and safety. Government must continue to ensure that these services are adequately funded and supported to carry out their roles within the community. I would also continue to give my support in any way that I may. The FIDF in particular are a symbol of our determination to have a significant role in the defence of our country.
As an electioneering candidate it is tempting to make promises that would later be difficult or impossible to fulfil. I have said before that no single Councillor can solve everybody’s problems, and Councillors have to work together for the good of our country. However I can give you my pledge that if elected I would continue to listen to anybody’s problems and if it is within my power to help I will do so. It is my firm belief that everybody should be treated equally in the way that I would like to be treated myself.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message.
MANIFESTO OF KEVIN ORMOND
PEOPLE ASK ME WHY ARE YOU STANDING FOR ELECTION AND I TELL THEM THAT EVERY ONE SHOULD TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE COUNTRY THAT THEY LIVE IN AND WE SHOULD ALL BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO TRY TO STAND FOR COUNCIL TO TRY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE RUNNING OF OUR COUNTRY I TRIED 4 YEARS AGO AND ALTHOUGH UNSUCCESSFUL IT DID NOT DETER ME FROM STANDING AGAIN AS IS EASY TO CONDEMN PEOPLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND MISTAKES
AND IT IS ANOTHER TO TAKE A STAND FOR THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS I AM JUST AN ORDINARY BLOKE FROM THE STREETS I HAVE NO BUISNESS’S OR OWN ANY COMPANIES OR DIRECTORSHIPS I AM STANDING AS A REPRESENTITIVE OF THE ORDINARY PEOPLE OF THE FALKLANDS I CAME HERE IN 1982 WITH THE TASK FORCE AND MET MY WIFE TEENA AT GOOSE GREEEN AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE ISLANDS AND I NOW CONSIDER THEM TO BE MY HOME AND SO I FEEL THAT WE SHOULD ALL TRY AND HELP IN MAKING OUR ISLANDS A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN 4 YEARS AGO I WAS CAMPAINING FOR A COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS TO USE AND ENJOY I STILL WANT TO SEE A COMMUNITY.CENTRE WE SPENT A FORTUNE ON RENOVATING THE TOWN HALL AND THOUGH IT LOOKS GOOD IT IS NOT VERY SENIOR CITIZEN FRIENDLY AS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES CANNOT ACCESS IT EASILY AND SO TEND TO SYAY AWAY FROM PUBLIC RECEPTIONS AND THE MAY BALL AND OTHER SUCH EVENTS SURELY THE MONEY SPENT COULD HAVE GONE TOWARDS A COMMUNITY CENTRE WE ALSO READ AND HEAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE YOUTH OF STANLEY WALKING THE STREETS AND UNDERAGE DRINKING AND THAT NOTHING IS DONE TO DETER THEM BUT IF WE HAD A CENTRE IT COULD HAVE A CINEMA IN IT AND THAT COULD ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEM IT COULD ALSO BE UTILISED DURING THE TOURIST SEASON BY SHOWING FILMS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THESE ISLANDS AND THE WILDLIFE AND PLACES TO SEE THIS WOULD ALSO BRING IN MORE REVENUE FOR THE ISLANDS AS AT THE MOMENT THE NEAREST CINEMA IS AT MOUNT PLEASANT 35 MILES AWAY AND YOU CAN SET OFF FROM HERE TO TAKE YOUR FAMILY AND FIND THAT IT AS SOLD OUT AND YOU HAVE TO RETURN HOME
ANOTHER IDEA WOULD BE TO TRY AND EXTEND THE SHACK BUILDING AS THE PRESENT BUILDING IS NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR THE AMOUNT OF YOUNGSTERS USING IT STEVE AND KATIE AND THEIR TEAM OF DEDICATED VOLUNTEER HELPERS DO GIVE A WONDERFUL SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AND LOTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN HAVE SOMEWHERE TO GO INSTEAD OF THE STREETS
WE SHOULD ALSO BE LOOKING AT THE FUNDING OF OUR STUDENTS WE SHOULD BE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE OUR STUDENTS TO DO WELL AND NOT KEEP PUTTING OBSTACLES IN THEIR WAY BY CUTTING GRANTS AND FUNDING TO ASSIST WITH CURRICULIM TRIPS I KNOW WE ARE TRYING TO SORT OUT THE FEES SITUATION BUT I FEEL TO PENALISE OUR STUDENTS FROM TRYING TO BETTER THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF A LACK OF FUNDING IS DISGRACEFUL BECAUSE THE YOUTH OF TODAY ARE THE SENIOR PLAYERS OF OUR COUNTRY TOMMORROW WHEN MATURE STUDENTS GO TO COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY FROM DEPARTMENTS THEY DO SO ON A FULL SAARY AND SO ARE NOT AS DISADVANTAGED AS THE NORMAL STUDENTS THEY ARE ALREADY DISCOURAGED FROM HAVING PART TIME EMPLOYMENT FROM FEAR OF HAVING THEIR GRANTS CUT WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO SEE IS STUDENTS RETURNING HOME WITH MASSIVE DEBTS HANGING OVER THEIR HEADS AFTER ALL THEY HAVE THEN GOT TO SECURE POSITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT WHEN THEY DO RETURN HOME MOST OF OUR STUDENTS WANT TO COME HOME WITH QUALIFICATIONS TO HELP THEM TO PUT SOMETHING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORTED THEM SO WE SHOULD GIVE THEM EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO AS EDUCATION IS VERY PRECIOUS
ALSO WHILST ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND YOUNG FAMILIES WE COME TO THE SUBJECT OF HOUSING THERE IS A DISTINCT LACK OF HOUSING FOR FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHAT PRIVATE HOUSING IS AVAILABLE IS SO AT ENOURMOUS RENTS THE RENTS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR RANGE FROM BETWEEN £500 TO £1,000 AND SOME PEOPLE JUST DON’T EARN ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD THESE RENTS I KNOW WE HAVE THE YMCA AND LOOKOUT LODGE WHICH ALTHOUGH ADEQUATE DOES NOT SOLVE AN IMMEDIATE LONG TERM SOLUTION WE NEED TO BE INVESTING IN STARTER HOMES FOR FAMILIES AND YOUNG AND SINGLE PEOPLE ESPECIALLY IF THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO STOP SUBSIDISED PLOTS WITH THE COST OF A PLOT BEING SERVICED AND TRYING TO PUT A DWELLING ON IT AND CEILINGS BEING PLACED ON MORTGAGES PEOPLE WILL STRUGGLE TO BUILD THEIR OWN HOMES AND THE OLD ADAGE OF LIVING WITH YOUR PARENTS IS GOOD MAY HAVE WORKED YEARS AGO BUT DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME APPEAL TODAY MOST PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE INDEPENDENCE AND TO SHOW THEY ARE ABLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN TWO FEET SO WE SHOULD BE LOOKING TO TRY AND BUILD STARTER HOMES AND TO OFFER MORE ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BUILD THEIR OWN HOMES THIS WOULD ALSO BRING IN REVENUE FOR THE GOVERNMENT INSTEAD OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR LAND LORDS FOR EXAMPLE YOUR SALARY TAKE HOME PAY IS £800 A MONTH YOU PAY RENT OF £6OO THIS LEAVES YOU £200 TO PAY FOR FOOD AND FUEL ECT SO WE NEED TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WE SHOULD BE ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO LIVE HERE AND NOT TO DRIVE THEM AWAY MAYBE GOVERNMENT AND ONE OF THE BUILDERS COULD FORM A HOUSING PARTNERSHIP LIKE THEY DO IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WITH THE COUNTY COUNCILS AND CONSTRUCT LOW COST HOUSING UNITS FOR PEOPLE TO RENT OR POSSIBLY BUY
ANOTHER POINT THAT I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT IS THE FLIGHTS SITUATION BETWEEN HERE AND THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS THERE HAVE BEEN DELAYS WITH THE AIRCRAFT WHICH HAS RESULTED IN PEOPLE RETURNING LATE BACK TO THE ISLANDS WHICH AFFECTS EVERYBODY AND THEIR EMPLOYERS WETHER IT BE GOVERNMENT OR THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND CAN ALSO RESULT IN PEOPLE MISSING THEIR CONNECTIONS IN UK TO OTHER DESTINATIONS AND MISSED MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS OR SCHEDULED SURGERY IN UK AND OCCASSIONALY THE PLANE IS REPLACED WITH A FREIGHTER SO ONLY MILITARY OR MOD SPONSORED PASSENGERS CAN GO ON IT WHEN YOU CONSIDER YOU CAN FLY FROM LONDON
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